Difference

After the news of Wei He breaking through to Stone Hide was released.

Because the truth was concealed, with the exception of Old Zheng, no one knew that Wei He's actual breakthrough had occurred two months earlier than the current time.

Therefore, although this breakthrough caused a small ripple within the courtyard, it quickly subsided.

What everyone was more concerned about now was when the Seven Families Alliance and Hong Family Fort would start fighting. People in and out of the city were in a state of panic.

Many people wanted to leave, but outside the city was even more chaotic and dangerous, with mountain bandits and fierce beasts appearing everywhere. One had to remember that population was also a resource.

Men, once captured, would be sent to forced labor. Women with even a little bit of beauty would be sent to brothels, and those without would also have to work as servants.

Some cruel individuals would even capture them to be made into dried meat.

Within the Outer City, those who had the means to flee had mostly already done so. What remained were those who couldn't, and those who weren't able to.

Wei He woke up early and practiced his fist techniques for a session before wiping off his sweat. He ate some coarse grain porridge with scrambled eggs and minced meat with Second Sister, and then quickly headed towards Old Zheng's place.

He had received instructions from Old Zheng to go to the small courtyard in the inner building first when he arrived at the courtyard.

As Wei He left his small courtyard, the sky was just beginning to lighten. From a alley on the right side of the road, sounds of a fight could be faintly heard.

As Wei He passed by, he saw a few half-grown youths fighting. One person was fighting two.

The one fighting alone let out a loud shout, continuously scattering large amounts of lime powder from his hand. He made the two on the opposite side yelp in pain and retreat repeatedly.

However, after a short while, one of the youths on the opposite side, with a swift movement, picked up a brick and smashed it back.

The youth scattering lime powder stumbled from the impact. He let out another roar, continued to wildly scatter lime, and charged forward with a flurry of wild punches.

Wei He shook his head slightly.

'Too crude. Lime isn't used like that, and bricks should be aimed at the head.'

He lowered his evaluation of the new generation of street fighters in his mind.

Passing the alley, some grocery stores on the street had already opened. However, their doors were not fully open; wooden boards were still used as makeshift barriers outside, blocking the main entrance and leaving only small gaps.

People were handing things through these gaps, exchanging goods for shopping.

As Wei He passed, he glanced at them. During transactions, these people were not using silver taels, but small bags containing unknown items.

He remembered that in the beginning, some people still used copper coins, but now even silver taels were gone.

The inner city was already using gold banknotes as currency for transactions.

Wei He looked around. On the empty street, there were only three shops open in total on both sides. The flow of people coming and going did not exceed ten people combined.

The ground was littered with garbage, and no one was cleaning it up.

'This place is becoming more and more dilapidated.'

He sighed inwardly, quickened his pace, made a few turns, and arrived in front of the Huishan Fist Academy.

He took out his key, unlocked the door, and walked in.

In the outer courtyard, several people had already arrived. As soon as he entered, he immediately attracted attention.

Wei He's expression was calm, and his pace was neither fast nor slow as he walked through the outer courtyard.

He could feel the weight contained within the gazes around him. Compared to when he was still at Ox Hide and also entered the academy, the gazes he received were different.

Back then, they would just glance and look away. But now, they carried a slight heaviness.

Some were indifferent, some were unwilling and unconvinced, some were envious, and some were gentle and friendly.

The gazes directed at him now were much heavier than before.

This was influence.

Wei He looked back, and the fellow disciples he met all unconsciously lowered their gaze, not meeting his eyes.

As he stepped into the courtyard, he clearly felt that wherever he walked, the disciples nearby would involuntarily pay attention to his position.

It was different.

Completely different from before.

This was the treatment after breaking through. No matter what he did, someone would unconsciously notice him.

Stone Hide, this was the true core of the Huishan Fist Academy, the highest level. It was also the level closest to Old Zheng, the one that would make him view them differently.

This level truly created a qualitative difference from the other outer courtyard disciples and trainees.

Wei He suddenly understood a sentence Old Zheng had told him before.

"An elite with secondary Blood Essence could be a mid-level expert in the Seven Families Alliance."

A mid-level person in the Seven Families Alliance would be a high-level figure in a small gang outside.

"Oh no, Yang Zhou, your brother has been cornered again! It's the Thief Gang!"

Suddenly, from outside the courtyard, a half-grown youth in ragged clothes rushed to the entrance and shouted.

A short-haired youth who was practicing suddenly started.

"Take me to see him!" As he spoke, his voice was surprisingly clear and pleasant, and it was clearly a girl.

However, her face was dirty, her short hair was messy, and her body was like bean sprouts with no curves. No one could tell she was a girl.

"Where is the person?" This girl was a newcomer, only joining the Huishan Fist Academy a few days ago. Her name was Yang Zhou.

Wei He had a slight impression of her.

Not because she was a girl, but because this Yang Zhou, like him, came from that old Rat Alley.

She also lived in those dilapidated shacks on the edge of Rat Alley.

Hearing the commotion now, Wei He also heard the words "Thief Gang." His heart stirred slightly, and he suddenly wondered if his eldest sister, Wei Chun, had also shouldered all the family's pressure alone, protecting their family and younger siblings.

He felt a pang of emotion and paused his steps, wanting to go take a look.

However, this Yang Zhou was just a newcomer, only learning the basic moves. She had no connection to him.

He was too lazy to meddle in other people's affairs.

He lifted his leg again and walked towards the inner room.

He hadn't taken a few steps when a furious shout suddenly came from outside the courtyard. It was Yang Zhou, along with the curses and shouts of others.

"They've actually fought their way outside the courtyard?" Wei He paused his steps and turned to walk out of the courtyard.

The other disciples who were practicing also stopped and followed him out to see what was happening.

This Huishan Fist Academy was one of the most famous places in all of Shiqiao Town. Now, someone dared to cause trouble outside the academy's gates?

On the street outside the courtyard.

At this moment, Yang Zhou and a young teenager were fighting wildly with several burly men.

On the ground nearby lay a thin, bruised, and half-conscious young boy.

The two burly men should have had the upper hand, but Yang Zhou and the teenager, using all sorts of dirty tricks, had thrown them into disarray.

The fight was surprisingly evenly matched for a moment.

At this time, several more men arrived on the opposite side of the street.

These men all bore the black markings of the Thief Gang.

The man leading them had a cold expression and was about to roll up his sleeves to join the fray. Suddenly, he saw Wei He and the few Huishan Fist disciples standing outside the courtyard, watching the situation.

His expression changed slightly. His companion quickly whispered a few words to him, seemingly recognizing Wei He.

"Since Brother Wei is here, I apologize for the disturbance. We'll be leaving now!"

Without another word, this man cupped his fists in a salute, stepped forward, pulled his two companions, and left.

Under the leadership of their head, this group quickly disappeared into the depths of the alley.

Wei He hadn't said a word before the people had already fled.

He was slightly taken aback, completely not expecting that he now possessed such deterrence without even realizing it.

These Thief Gang members seemed similar to Chen Biao and his group from back then, all hooligans wandering around the vicinity. Sometimes they robbed people for money, sometimes they worked as temporary human traffickers. As long as there was a benefit, they would do anything.

Now, they actually ran away upon seeing him?

Wei He felt a sense of bewilderment. Back then, before he had taken a master, when he encountered Chen Biao and the other two with money in his pocket, he had been trembling with fear.

Now, he encountered members of the Thief Gang again. Without saying a word, he could make them turn and run.

Unknowingly, he was no longer the weak person he once was.

Wei He felt a wave of emotion.

At this moment, Yang Zhou also quickly rushed over and bowed deeply to him, cupping her fists.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Wei."

Wei He shook his head. "I didn't do anything, no need to thank me."

He turned and walked towards the courtyard gate. After a few steps, he paused.

"If you train diligently, you won't be bullied anymore."

Hearing this, Yang Zhou's body trembled. She responded with a heavy "Yes," bowed again, and then quickly ran to her brother's side. Together with another person, they picked up her brother and headed towards the pharmacy.

At this time, the Thief Gang members ran frantically for a long distance before stopping by a pile of garbage, panting heavily.

"Boss... Boss, who was that just now??" one of the men asked, gasping for breath, unable to hide his confusion.

"Huishan Fist released news two days ago about the core disciple Wei He, who had broken through to the second stage of Blood Essence. Second stage Blood Essence..." the boss sighed.

"Don't even think about it. Just know that he's a formidable figure. Even if we attacked him by surprise, all of us together would just be offering ourselves up as food." He still had some insight.

With a sigh, he slapped his subordinate's forehead.

"From now on, keep your eyes peeled! I'll teach you a lesson: you need to constantly monitor even the slightest movements within these martial arts academies. Otherwise, if a new powerful figure suddenly appears one day and you provoke them, it will mean certain death."

"In this day and age, dying is like dying like a dog, with no one to bury you," he exhaled heavily, pushing his back off the wall.

"Let's go. Don't touch those two from Yang Zhou for now. We'll go after others first."

The rest of them looked at each other, not daring to make a sound, and slowly followed him away.

Bang!

Wei He punched Old Zheng's forearm. Before he could exert full force, he turned and used an elbow strike, spinning and smashing towards the opponent's forehead.

"This move has too much of a gap between actions, too many openings."

Old Zheng gave a gentle push, causing Wei He's move to miss.

The palm he pushed out suddenly clenched into a fist and struck forward.

"Gotcha!"

Bang!

Wei He stumbled back, another fist print appearing on his shoulder.

Cough, cough.

He lowered his head and coughed a few times, then looked up at Old Zheng with admiration.

"Teacher, you're truly formidable!"

"What? You thought because I'm old, I definitely wouldn't be your match?" Zheng Fugui chuckled, "Let me tell you, you kids are still too green!"

"You've got something going for you now, but do you know why you still can't beat this old man?" Teacher Zheng smiled.

"This disciple doesn't know." Wei He also found it strange. Teacher Zheng wasn't burly, nor was he tall, and he didn't look heavy, yet his strength was exceptionally great.

He could even clearly feel that Teacher Zheng wasn't using his full strength; even a casual move from him carried much more power than Wei He's own.

"Little He, compared to others, you're just too quiet." Zheng Fugui said, "Go out more often, interact with people, broaden your connections, and you'll get more information and intelligence."

"Teacher means?"

"Position." Zheng Fugui said lightly, "You have some strength now, so do you know where you stand in this Feiye City?"

Wei He was immediately speechless. He truly hadn't considered this.

"This disciple doesn't know." He replied honestly.